Indonesian President Backs Anti-Corruption Agency In Feud Against Police

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke out in support of the nation’s anti-corruption body, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), on Monday after the KPK became entangled in a bitter feud with the National Police over investigations of corrupt behaviour into each other’s agencies.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke out in support of the nation’s anti-corruption body, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), on Monday after the KPK became entangled in a bitter feud with the National Police over investigations of corrupt behaviour into each other’s agencies.

“The case should be handled by one institution alone and that is the KPK,” said Yudhoyono, as cited by Bloomberg, during a briefing at the Presidential Palace to the press.

“I reject any attempt to weaken KPK,” he later said.

On October 5, dozens of police officers had turned up at the KPK office in Jakarta to try and arrest a KPK officer, Novel Baswedan, who was leading anti-graft investigations against the former chief of the national traffic police, Djoko Susilo. The police alleged that Baswedan was involved in an assault case, dating back to 2004, while Susilo has been accused of costing the state some 200 billion rupiah ($21 million).

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Most Indonesians though noted how police action against Baswedan came just eight hours after Susilo was interrogated by the KPK. Hundreds of Indonesians, carrying signs in support of the KPK, as such, gathered outside KPK’s complex and formed a human barricade to prevent the police from arresting Baswedan.

[quote]”Our question is why the invasion to the KPK compound occurs when we are conducting investigations against major corruption cases at the moment,” KPK’s Deputy Chief Bambang Widjojanto later said in an interview with a national TV station, as cited by Xinhua.[/quote]

“Comr. Novel is part of the simulator case task force, and he’s also involved in the investigation of some other cases. Novel is one of KPK’s best investigators,” Widjojanto added, according to the Jakarta Globe.

Before President Yudhoyono made his comments, some Indonesian citizens had questioned why the president had been silent in the KPK’s power struggle with the police.

Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam told the Jakarta Post last Saturday that the president was  waiting for a report from Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto before responding to the police’s attempt to arrest Baswedan.

“There is no omission [regarding the conflict], I am sure. I know the President and there will be no omission regarding KPK issues. There are procedures. What’s the rush?” Alam said after a talk in Jakarta on Saturday.

The president has faced severe difficulty in eradicating corruption in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, ever since he assumed power in 2004. Indonesia ranks 100 out of 182 countries according to the Transparency International Corruption Perception index, despite recording economic growth of more than 10 percent since 2010.

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[quote]“It is better now we step up our synergy and intensity in the efforts to fight corruption,” Yudhoyono said after a meeting with officials from both KPK and the police.[/quote]

“The police’s wish to legally process Novel Baswedan I view as not proper be it the timing or its method,” added Yudhoyono, who also admitted that the two agencies “isn’t working well” together at the moment.